Pricing and efficiency in wireless cellular data networks

In this thesis, we address the problem of resource allocation in wireless cellular networks carrying elastic data traffic. A recent approach to the study of large scale engineering systems, such as communication networks, has been to apply fundamental economic principles to understand how resources can be efficiently allocated in a system despite the competing interests and selfish behavior of the users. The most common approach has been to assume that each user behaves selfishly according to a payoff function, which is the difference between his utility derived from the resources he is allocated, and the price charged by the network's manager. The network manager can influence user behavior through the price, and thereby improve the system's efficiency. While extensive analysis along these lines has been carried out for wireline networks (see, for example, [10], [7], [23], [29], [21]), the wireless environment poses a host of unique challenges. Another recent line of research for wireline networks seeks to better understand how the economic realities of data networks can impact the system's efficiency. In particular, authors have considered the case where the network manager sets prices in order to maximize profits rather than achieve efficient resource allocation; see [1] and references therein.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Mukherjee, Shubham

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Asuman E. Ozdaglar.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33858

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33858